Horizon Data Center Solutions Unveils First Aspects of Tri-Coastal Strategy, Megawatts Under Management

As part of expansion plans previously released with the announcement of its first institutional round of funding in November 2009, Horizon Data Center Solutions (http://www.horizondcs.com) today begins to provide clarity to its national data center story. The first partnership to be announced is with Power Loft, developer of the Innovation campus, just 30 miles from Washington.

Looking at current and near-future capacity, Horizon’s plan includes more than 30 megawatts of power in more than 120,000 net square feet (240,000 gross) of Tier III data center space in each of the three major national power grids (Western, Eastern and Texas Interconnections). Horizon will have the ability to scale up to 40 megawatts at Power Loft’s Innovation Park facility alone. Negotiations with data center developers in Northern California are on-going, with multi-megawatt lease negotiations allowing for expansion of up to 40 megawatts

In total, Horizon’s tri-coastal portfolio plan has the potential for an excess of 120 megawatts of power and initially Horizon will have presence in three of the top 10 global Internet data center (IDC) markets.

Nationally, Horizon is one of the very few providers in which both energy-conscious enterprise and government clients will be able to turn to fulfill green data center initiatives in multiple facilities working with one company. Horizon’s data centers are LEED Silver and Gold certified and have some of the nation’s lowest Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) ratings.

To tie the facilities together, Horizon created HorizonSecureNet, a national low-latency, private fiber network, with resilient DWDM networks in each market that it serves. In each local market, Horizon will initially offer redundant 10 GB/s networks and a multi-homed Internet blend to assure 99.999 percent uptimes.

The federal government is already a large colocation and cloud computing customer for Horizon, and as such, physical and logical security are big concerns. Most Horizon data centers have perimeter fences and at least five layers of access control to reach client IT space. Horizon’s data centers are built in accordance with security guidelines such as DTRA and some have undergone a Force Protection/Anti-Terrorism Threat assessment. Horizon has even undertaken projects to add sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF, DCID 6/9) components to client space within an existing Horizon data center.

Enterprise and government clients alike also choose Horizon for colocation and cloud computing services due to robust control objectives that produce usable SAS 70 II audits, a must for medical, legal and financial record storage. KPMG, Horizon’s auditor of record, audits each data center annually. Also, Horizon is in the process of obtaining Department of Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation (DIACAP) certification.

Finally, to provide data center performance assurance before client move-in, each Horizon facility undergoes a five-level commissioning process to test, at full load, the integrated systems that power and cool the data center. Some Horizon data centers are able to handle extremely dense, 300-plus watts per square foot demand where testing is crucial. This extra step ensures that Horizon data centers perform as expected and deliver power and cooling under even the most severe circumstances.

About Horizon Data Center Solutions

Horizon Data Center Solutions has changed the way data centers operate by offering customers a better way to do business. The Horizon team is led by experts in the data center industry who are focused on delivering enterprise quality colocation and managed services to clients both large and small. Horizon is focused on a true partner relationship in data center services. For more information, contact Horizon at 866.620.7516 or visit www.horizondcs.com.